Is there any comparable alternative to Qt?

Question

I love the idea of Qt, however I use it not only for open source but closed source development. This isn't a real problem because I just license under the LGPL and distribute the DLLs needed. I've run into a problem though unfortunately.

The compiled statically linked executable is 4.36 MB. Not too shabby.

The compiled dynamically linked executable is 250 KB, however I also must include almost 35 MB in DLL files with the installation. This is REALLY tacky and no matter how I look at it I cannot justify the size-use ratio. This, and I simply cannot afford a commercial license. Talk about price gouging start up developers.

Anyway, you see my problem. My program performs only one function. 35 MB is too large. Unfortunately I've heard horror stories about how poorly maintained WxWidgets is but given my situation I'm afraid I'll be forced to use it. Can anyone recommend me a alternative that is nearly as powerful but won't result in the bloat an LGPL compiled Qt executable brings? Thank you!

Answer 1

Why don't you wrap all the functionality you need in a separate statically compiled dll and link your program dynamically with that. You can release the source code of the statically compiled dll since it's just a wrapper. And overall you'll still comply with LGPL.